Ms R?iseal N? Ch?illeachair:

I thank members for their invitation. I offer the apologies of our CEO, Mr. David Regan, who is travelling in Kenya and Ethiopia, which is why he is not able to be present. I am delighted to be here on his behalf.

As Ms McKenna outlined, we are living in turbulent and increasingly volatile times. I wish to take a moment to focus on the importance of Ireland’s development commitment and the impact of Ireland’s voice and place in the world. Thanks to the sustainable development goals and Ireland’s considerable contribution to their development, we have the roadmap, the means and the knowledge to address inequality and end hunger and poverty, but we do not have the political will on a global scale to make it happen.

Armed conflict and a disregard for international humanitarian law are on the rise as diplomatic and political channels for resolving conflict and ending fighting fail. Conflict has been on the rise for the past decade and 600 million people were exposed to conflict in 2023. There are now 108 million people forcibly displaced due to persecution, conflict, violence and human rights violations. The total number of people living in internal displacement increased by 51% over the past five years, reaching a record high of 75 million people across 116 countries at the end of 2023. The tragic situation in Sudan and the surrounding region is an example of how conflict forces civilians to flee. In one year, 8.8 million people have fled their homes, with 2 million people entering other countries – Chad, South Sudan and Ethiopia.

One in every eight people in the world is hungry and one in every three does not have a nutritious diet. As part of Ireland’s commitment to addressing hunger, essential investment in nutrition has changed the lives of children and their families around the globe. The fight against hunger has to continue as food becomes more expensive and production less sustainable. We have seen the impact of conflict and climate change on our own food baskets as well as the increased costs that resulted from the global pandemic. Every shock hits the poorest hardest. If we have learned anything from the pandemic, it is the unsustainable nature of our food systems.

We cannot discuss hunger without acknowledging the impact of climate change on food availability, food prices and crop diversity, nor should we ignore the risks that climate change poses to good nutrition and education. Almost all children in the world will face at least one major climate-related risk in their lifetimes. Despite progress and economic development, climate change will result in a net increase in undernourished children. By 2050, it is estimated that up to an additional 10 million children will be stunted due to undernutrition.

Of the 75 million children who have their education disrupted every year, 37 million miss out on school as a result of climate and environmental threats. In Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Sudan, Niger and Ethiopia, for example, climate change is a driver of food insecurity as a result of cyclical droughts followed by severe flooding or, increasingly, conflicts due to increased pressures on fertile land and clean water.

Ireland is in a unique position as a country that has experienced extreme hunger and conflict. We need to meet our commitment of spending 0.7% of our GNI on official development assistance by 2030.

Budget 2025 will be the last opportunity for this Government and Oireachtas to further strengthen Ireland's standing as a global leader and support the unrelenting work of Irish civil society, political actors and Irish diplomats in seeking a better, more peaceful and sustainable world.